Wicked
by Khgirl08
Summary: My submission for dancer4813's Wicked Song Challenge and Competition. It's a bit rushed, and for that I apologize.
1. No One Mourns the Wicked

Ginny's heart shattered as Michael walked away. _He told me he would understand! He told me he loved me unconditionally!_

"_He lied,"_ purred an all too familiar voice. Ginny gasped aloud at Tom's words. _"It's been a while, love."_

_I am not your love,_ she thought furiously. _Leave me alone!_

"_Nonsense,"_ he said. _"You're the one who let me in. I'm just trying to help you out."_

She cringed and put her hands over her ears as she walked away, praying that he would go away.

He didn't.

* * *

She watched Michael as he ate breakfast the next morning. He met her eyes only once, and they were full of such malice that her heart broke again, and then the pieces were utterly dismantled as he turned to talk with Cho Chang. The Asian beauty smiled and twirled her hair, her dark eyes fluttering as she grinned.

"You alright, Gin?" She nodded briefly at Neville's question, and her friend laid a hand on her arm. She pulled it away without even looking at him. "What's wrong?"

"Michael's a big git, that's what," she sighed. "Nothing new."

Neville might have said something else, but her hearing was interrupted by Tom. _"He's not the git, Ginevra. You are. You're the one who tried to kill all of those Mudbloods, remember?"_

_You did that, not me!_

"_Don't kid yourself. You didn't have to go along with what I told you. Some people might even say you're evil. Or wicked. And we all know that when you're wicked you're left only on your own."_

_That isn't true! I'm not evil!_

Neville's impatient sigh interrupted her argument, and before she could turn to apologize for ignoring him he had stood and left.

"_Only on your own."_

As usual, Tom was right.


	2. Popular

"_I was right, wasn't I? You're ugly, and stupid, and no one likes you. I could tell all that about you even back when you were an ickle firstie."_

_Shut up, Tom._

"_Your precious Harry still doesn't pay you attention. You're his best friend's sister and nothing more than that. And don't even get me started on your boyfriend. Both of them are more interested in Cho Chang, and no wonder. Just look at how gorgeous she…"_

"Hey, Ginny." Angelina Johnson sat down in the chair next to the fourth-year and smiled. "I got your owl. What's up?"

"Huh?" Ginny sat up straighter and stared at the Quidditch Captain.

"Your owl, Ginny. The one about needing to talk to me in private?" Angelina gave her a curious look. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, right!" Ginny laughed and shoved Tom's voice as far into the back of her mind as she could. "Sorry, I have Snape's essay on my mind."

Angelina smiled. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief that her ploy seemed to work. "No need to apologize. Everyone gets stressed about Snape at times. But what was that owl about? If it's about Potions, I'll have to fess up to having nearly failed my O.W.L. and-"

"No," she interjected. The older girl raised her eyebrows, and Ginny's infamous Weasley blush appeared. "It's about the tryouts."

"You aren't signed up, though. You didn't have to get a private meeting with me to do that, you just had to write your name down."

"I know, but that's the thing: I kind of want it to stay secret for now."

Angelina's eyebrows rose again. "Why?"

"I guess I know I'm not actually good enough, but I keep hoping that maybe there's some chance for me to somehow come out on top. But if the twins and Ron hear about it…well, they would laugh. Most people would laugh." _Michael would laugh_.

"I wouldn't," Angelina said quietly. "Everyone in your family but your mum and Percy have played Quidditich, right? One of your brothers was a record-breaking Seeker, and we all know how good the twins are at Beating."

Ginny shrugged uneasily. "But I'm not as good as they are."

Angelina tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled. "Nonsense. You've got a Seeker's build, you have. That's your position, right?"

"For now. I'd like to play Chaser someday, but obviously that isn't an option."

Angelina contemplated her for a moment before grinning. "Alright. I'll make you a deal."

"A deal?"

Angelina smirked. "I'll keep your tryout a secret until Friday if you pass a little audition." Ginny's eyes widened. "Meet me at the field tonight at midnight. Bring your broom, if you've got one."

Before Ginny could react, Angelina had crossed the room to sit with the twins.

"_As if you're going to do anything like that. You're too much of a coward._"

_You obviously don't know me well enough, Tom._

* * *

The darkness was beginning to get to her. Though the moon was scheduled to be full, the cloud cover was so thick that all its light was blocked. Ginny didn't much care for darkness, not since her first year.

_Don't start that, now_, she chided herself. A low chuckle echoed through her mind, but she did her best to ignore it.

"Get on your broom." The deep whisper startled Ginny to the point of shrieking. "Do it now!"

Shaking, Ginny sat on her broom and began hovering over the field, keeping her toes within stretching distance of the grass. Another voice cackled from behind her. "Dodge."

"What?" she squeaked. She needn't have bothered, as the meaning became apparent almost immediately. A Stunner came sparking from her left, and she rushed to evade it. Another grazed the ends of her hair, and she hurried to move out of the third one's path. Over and over they came, and again and again she dodged. Just as she was beginning to pant with effort, a third voice shouted at her.

"Enough!"

Three wand tips lit up together, and Ginny was unsurprised to see that her attackers were Angelina, Alicia, and Katie. All three were smiling, but she was in a less jovial mood. "What the bloody hell was that all about?" she asked furiously. "If I'd fallen off my broom, I'd probably be dead!"

"Not from this height," reasoned Alicia. "Your leg might be broken, but you'd be perfectly alive."

"I told you, Ginny, you had to pass an audition. And pass it you did, at least the Quidditch half of it." Angelina flew closer. "Dodging other players and Bludgers is one of the most important parts of being a Seeker."

Ginny was still unsatisfied. "You could have at least told me!"

"But you would have expected it then," Katie reasoned, "and that wouldn't have been nearly as fun. Besides, you still have to pass the other half of our audition."

"What, are you going to throw Puffskeins for me to catch?" she grumbled.

"No, of course not." Alicia and Katie joined Angelina directly in front of Ginny, and the former aimed her wand light at Ginny's face. "You've got potential, sure, but you're going to need to work hard."

"Why does it seem like you're not talking about Quidditch this time?"

"She's not." Angelina waved her hand at herself and her teammates. "The Gryffindor Quidditch girls have an image, one that we need to work hard to keep up. Ginevra Weasley, if you want to be our Seeker, you need to put in some effort to look as good as you play."

"What does that mean, exactly? Are you saying I don't look good?" Ginny narrowed her eyes, but on the inside she knew they were right.

"_After all, you are the ugliest one out of all your siblings, and since you're the only girl that's even worse."_ Ginny could practically hear Tom grinning. _"There's not a chance that you'll make this team."_

"That's not what she said at all." Katie chuckled under her breath and turned her head slightly. "Do you think we three roll out of bed in the morning looking this good? It takes dedication, practice, and a lot of skill."

"There isn't a whole lot we can do about your clothes right now," put in Alicia, "but we can get your hair and make-up fixed almost immediately, if you're up for it that is."

Ginny stared at them. "And I have to do this to make the team?"

The three Chasers exchanged glances. "Well," said Angelina slowly, "you might make it anyhow. It's a lot more likely to happen if you do this, though. A _lot_ more likely."

"Besides," Katie said, "this won't just benefit you for Quidditch. We're gonna make you popular."

The redhead closed her eyes momentarily before nodding. "Alright, then. Let's go."

* * *

"Merlin, Ginny, have you been out with Michael all this time?" Ginny jumped at the sound of Hermione's voice as she crept through the common room. "It's nearly three in the morning!"

"Um, no, not exactly," she said quietly. The three Quidditch players had chortled and sent her off back to Gryffindor Tower after she fell asleep right on their styling stool in the Room of Requirement. "Why are you still awake?"

"I went to bed, but I woke up a half hour ago and couldn't go back to sleep, so I came down here to read." Hermione patted the couch next to her. "Sit down if you'd like."

Ginny slid onto the couch, and Hermione gasped. "What?"

"Your hair! And are you wearing mascara?! Ginny, what happened?!"

She rolled her eyes. "Angelina, Alicia, and Katie happened." As she detailed the events of her night, Hermione's eyes became narrower and narrower. By the time Ginny explained that Katie had snipped off over four inches of split ends and shown her how to braid properly, her friends eyes were no more than slits. "I was too tired for them to explain about lip color and blush properly, but they told me I can come ask them at any time."

"In other words, they're forcing you to comply with _their_ view of beauty," Hermione said fiercely. "That's ridiculous."

Ginny shrugged. "Honestly, though, I don't know. I think my hair looks a lot better, and I've been wondering how to use make up for a while now. I feel…pretty."

Hermione stared at her friend for a long moment. "You're sure you're alright with this?" When Ginny nodded, Hermione's face relaxed. "In that case, congratulations. I really do like your hair."

Ginny laughed. "Want me to show you how to do it?"

"Maybe tomorrow night. You need to get some sleep." Hermione pointed sternly at the stairs, and Ginny rolled her eyes again but followed her friend's instructions.

As she was changing in the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror again. Her freckles were almost gone, her eyes were brighter, and her hair was no longer sticking out in whichever direction it pleased.

If this was what a Quidditch player should look like, she didn't know why she hadn't started this earlier.

She was going to be popular.


	3. Defying Gravity

The change in people's attitudes after her Quidditch tryout was stunning.

Students she had never met in her life approached her in the corridors, congratulating her and offering to have lunch with her. Boys were openly staring at her, flirting outrageously with her. Even her brothers were being nicer than usual, though they seemed more surprised than anything at the fact that she could fly a broom.

In the face of her success, Tom had scurried off to whatever corner of her mind he used as a hiding spot. She was glad to be rid of him, even if her head did seem empty without his constant snarking and berating.

The best part of the aftermath came at the D.A. meeting after tryouts. The room was sprinkled with Christmas decorations, and she found it nearly impossible not to be cheery around them. She was smiling and chatting with Luna and Neville when someone coughed and tapped her on the shoulder, effectively ruining her mood.

It was Michael. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sod off," she growled.

"No, Ginny, I really need to…I want to apologize." He shook his head. "I was a git, and you and I both know it. I know you probably have all sorts of trauma from being kidnapped by the Heir of Slytherin and everything, and I shouldn't have scorned you for your confusion on the identity of the heir."

"My confusion?" she asked. "I'm not confused at all, but you seem to be. Michael, everything I told you is absolutely true."

He sighed and took her hand, leading her to an unoccupied corner of the room. "Listen, I know you think that is. I'll even go along with that if it makes you feel better, alright? Because I really like you. I love you, actually, and I was stupid for forgetting that."

She glared at him, but he suddenly smiled. "That's my Ginny. You look more like yourself right now than you have in days. Not that I don't like the new look," he continued, taking a lock of her hair and twirling it slowly, "because I think it's really hot."

"You do?" she asked slowly. He nodded, and she flushed.

_No one's ever said that about me before…_

"Ginny, I want us to go back to how things were. Will you?"

She paused for a moment. "Michael…I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game…anyone else's game, even yours. If we're going to be together, you need to treat me like an equal, not a piece of arm candy."

"Definitely," he said with a grin before leaning in to kiss her. She returned the gesture enthusiastically, and a wolf whistle from some onlooker broke them apart nearly a minute later. "I love you."

"I love you too." He raked his eyes across her hungrily, in a way that he'd never done before, and she felt her skin tingle under his gaze.

Things had certainly taken a turn for the better.


End file.
